Editing Toque (section)

==Knit cap==
{{Further|Knit cap#Canadian toque, tuque or touque}}

In [[Canadian English|Canada]], ''toque'' or ''tuque'' {{IPAc-en|t|uː|k}} is the common name for a [[Knit cap|knitted winter cap]]. While the spelling ''toque'' has become the most formally accepted in Canada, as recognized by the ''[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary]]'' and the ''[[A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles|Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles]]'', the alternate spelling of ''tuque'' is most commonly used in French Canada and often occurs in Canadian media. The spelling ''touque'', although not recognized by the ''[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary]]'', is also sometimes seen in written English.<ref name=cbc>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/thousands-vote-on-correct-spelling-of-canadian-knit-cap-1.2457737 |title=Thousands vote on correct spelling of Canadian knit cap |date=10 December 2013 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |access-date=22 December 2015}}</ref>

In 2013, [[CBC News|CBC]] Edmonton launched a poll to ask viewers how they spelled the word. The options given were ''toque'', ''tuque'' or ''touque''. Nearly 6,500 people voted, with Edmontonians remaining divided on the issue.<ref name="cbc" /> Though ''touque'' was voted most popular in that instance, there is almost no formal usage to support its popularity.

The [[Canadian English]] term was borrowed from [[Canadian French language|Canadian French]] word ''[[wikt:tuque#French|tuque]]'', and first documented in [[Canadian English]] in that form in 1865; by 1880 the spelling ''toque'' is documented.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Dollinger |first1=Stefan |last2=Fee |first2=Margery |date=2017 |title=toque |url=http://apps.plotandscatter.com:8080/dchp2/entries/view/toque |website=Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, Second Edition |publication-place=Vancouver |via=UBC}}</ref> The fashion is said to have originated with the {{lang|fr|[[coureurs de bois]]}}, French and [[Métis]] fur traders, who kept their woollen nightcaps on for warmth during cold winter days.  This spelling is attributed to a number of different sources, one being the Breton ''toc'' or ''tok'', "meaning simply 'hat'"; another suggesting that it is a Francization of the Spanish ''tocar,'' to touch, as the long "end of the sock cap" of the Voyageurs hung down and touched their shoulders;<ref>{{Cite book |author=Casselman, Bill |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/40940496 |title=Casselman's Canadian words : a comic browse through words and folk sayings invented by Canadians |date=1999 |publisher=McArthur |isbn=1-55278-034-1 |oclc=40940496}}</ref> and another source adamant that the word is borrowed from "the old Languedoc dialect word ''tuc''" meaning "summit" or "the head of a mountain".<ref>{{Cite book |first=Wayne |last=Grady |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/937943426 |title=Chasing the chinook : on the trail of Canadian words and culture |date=1999 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-027787-0 |oclc=937943426}}</ref>

The spelling of ''toque'', on the other hand, is borrowed from the original usage as described elsewhere in this article. ''Toque'' also appears in the 1941 ''Dictionary of Mississippi Valley French'' as a "style of hair-dressing among the Indians" which was a tall, conical fashion not unlike the shape of the Voyageur-style cap described above.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-05 |title="toque" in Mississippi Valley French, eh? |url=https://chinookjargon.com/2019/01/05/toque-in-mississippi-valley-french-eh/ |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Chinook Jargon}}</ref>

Dictionaries are divided on the matter of spelling, with the ''Gage Canadian'' preferring ''toque''<ref>{{Cite book |last=De Wolf |first=Gaelan T. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/734052878 |title=Gage Canadian dictionary |date=1998 |publisher=Gage Educational Pub. Co |isbn=978-0-7715-1981-9 |oclc=734052878}}</ref> and the ''Nelson Canadian'' listing ''tuque''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39032668 |title=Nelson Canadian dictionary of the English language : an encyclopedic reference. |date=1997 |publisher=ITP Nelson |isbn=0-17-604726-3 |location=Scarborough, Ont. |oclc=39032668}}</ref> (the ''Nelson Gage'' of a few years later would settle on ''toque''). The first ''[[A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles|Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles]]'' lists separate entries and definitions for both ''toque'' and ''tuque'' which cross-reference each other, though an illustrative line drawing is presented with the latter.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/60266 |title=A dictionary of Canadianisms on historical principles |date=1967 |publisher=W.J. Gage |oclc=60266}}</ref> Perhaps most importantly, the ''[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary|Canadian Oxford]]'' chose ''toque'',<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2004-01-01 |title=The Canadian Oxford Dictionary |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195418163.001.0001 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195418163.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-541816-3 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and as the ''[[Canadian Press Stylebook]]'' bows to the ''Canadian Oxford'' as the final word in spelling, most Canadian publications have followed suit.

Though the requirement of the ''toque'' to have a pom-pom or no can be a hard line for some Canadians, for the most part the country agrees: one of these three spellings must be "correct" no matter what the specifics of shape. As the ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia|Canadian Encyclopedia]]'' claims, "We all know a tuque when we see one, [we just] can't agree on how to spell the word."<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Tuque {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tuque |access-date=2023-04-08 }}</ref>

In recent years knit ''toques'' have resurfaced as an extremely popular fashion item. They are used all year round, seen not only used outdoors for weather but as an indoor fashion accessory.

Such hats are known in other English-speaking countries by a variety of names, including ''beanie'', ''watch cap'' or ''stocking cap''; the terms ''toque'' and ''tuque'' are unique to Canada and northern areas of the United States close to the [[Canada–United States border]].